Health and Labor at Armatambo, Perú

How Bioarchaeology Contributes to the Study of Social Complexity

Keith ChanUniversity of Missouri - Columbia

Outline•Background: Bioarchaeology and the

study of social complexity

•Hypotheses: Does state organization benefit health and command more labor?

•Methods: Testing the hypotheses in the central Andes

•Results: State level societies reverse a trend in worsening health seen in non-state societies

Bioarchaeology

•The study of human remains in an archaeological context

•Some disease processes leave indicators on the structure of bones and teeth

•The frequency or prevalence of these indicators can be compared among groups

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Bioarchaeology 2

•How does bioarchaeology help us study complex societies?

•Taps into another line of evidence: the actual people who lived in the past

•Lets us explore how health varies with social complexity

Indicators of Health and Activity

•Several indicators show subadult health, when bone is most susceptible to disease

•Cribra orbitalia (CO)

•Porotic hyperostosis (PH)

•Periosteal lesions

•Degenerative joint disease shows high physical activity in adults

Health Indicators 2

Health Indicators 2

http://people.usd.edu/~archlab/paleopics/metabol/

Health Indicators 2

Health Indicators 2

Bioarchaeology of Complex Societies

•Research in the forager to agriculturalist transition generally find worsening health

•What about the transition to states and empires?

•Maybe the greater command of labor acted to improve health and increase the population...

Image courtesy of the Royal Library (Copenhagen) (Item GKS 2232 4º)

Hypotheses

•Subadult health in an urban state will be better than in non-states

•Adult activity levels in an urban state will be greater than in non-states

Materials and Methods

•Setting: Prehistoric Andes

•First-generation state development

•Much comparative material from the Central Coast

Armatambo (Urban State)

•Prehistoric city

•Key settlement of the Ychsma state

•Late Intermediate Period

•Now part of modern Lima, Perú

Comparative Sample

•Comparative sample was compiled from previously-published studies

•Paloma (fishing village)

•Cardal (beginning social stratification)

•Villa El Salvador/Tablada De Lurín (localized polity)

Armatambo Data Collection

•Data collection took place in 2007 and 2009 with the help of two field schools I co-taught

•We worked at the Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología, e Historia in Lima

•Total number of individuals in the Armatambo collection: 55 (41 adults, 14 subadults)

Expectations

•Compared to collections from non-states, the Armatambo collection should show:

•Less cribra orbitalia

•Less porotic hyperostosis

•Fewer subadult periosteal lesions

•Compared to collections from non-states, the Armatambo collection should show more adult DJD

Results (Subadult Health)

Subadult CO

Results (Subadult Health)

Subadult PH

Results (Subadult Health) 4

Subadult Periosteal Lesions

Results (Adult Health) 2

Cervical Vertebra DJD

Results (Adult Health) 2

Thoracic Vertebra DJD

Results (Adult Health) 2

Lumbar Vertebrae DJD

Conclusion 1

•Question: How is health related to social complexity?

•Expected: Better subadult health and more adult activity in the state compared to non-states

•Tested Using: bioarchaeology of Andean skeletal population

Conclusion 2

•Findings: The Armatambo collection reversed a trend of worsening subadult chronic anemia with increasing social complexity

•Signs of chronic bacterial infections showed no clear pattern with social complexity

•Armatambo adults had more thoracic DJD than non-state adults

•Maybe related to labor?

Images courtesy of the Royal Library (Copenhagen) (Item GKS 2232 4º)

Acknowledgements• Alejandra Gudino and the MCAAAE organizers

• My dissertation committee: Bob Benfer, Debby Pearsall, Ed Brent, Ray Wood, and Chris VanPool

• Kathy Forgey and Dawn Sturk

• Life Sciences Fellowship at MU

• El Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia

• Maritza Perez

• Mercedes Delgado

• Kate Pechenkina, Joe Vradenburg, Matt Rhode, and Ahmad Abu Dalou

• My field school students: 2007: Andrea, Beckie, Crystal, Fernando, and Ruth; 2009: Brandi, Brian, Cari, Chelsea, Clarissa, Heather, Jessica, Justin, Kelly, and Tia

Thanks to: